Psychiatric morbidity among hypertensive men: A controlled study

A study group of 39 hypertensive male patients and 36 healthy male control patients were recruited for this study, done in a primary health care (PHC) centre in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates. The aim was to determine the preva lence and nature of psychiatric morbidity among the hypertensive group comp ared with the control group. A preliminary interview for recording medical history and sociodemographic data was carried out by PHC physicians. This w as followed by a psychiatric interview by a psychiatrist using the Clinical Interview Schedule (CIS). Psychiatric diagnoses for identified cases were recorded in accordance with ICD-10 criteria. There was no significant diffe rence in the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity between the hypertensive g roup (17.9%) and the healthy group (5.6%). This is against the hypothesis t hat chronic medical illnesses are associated with higher psychiatric morbid ity. The psychiatric morbidity identified consisted mainly of generalized a nxiety disorder, depressive episode, and mixed anxiety and depressive disor ders. There were no significant differences in the mean scores of the CIS-r eported psychiatric symptoms between the two groups.